What's the best way for a foreigner to buy a bike in France?
 

I am an Australian student and will be in France for six months and wish to buy a bike for adventuring the continent. What's the best way to do it? Can you do a guaranteed buy-back?

I was planning a trip in France bringing my bike by boat. I took a lot of informations (insurance, costs, etc...); at the end, considering all the costs, I thought it would be less expensive to buy a used bike in France and sell it back after a six months trip.

I hope my dream will come true next summer. Up to now, I didn't ask anybody for informations. I intend to go back in France sometime this winter and then glean a lot of informations on buying and selling back.

I wish you could be kind enough to get in touch with me if you can get informations before I do.

Henri

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Henri

Henri is right.
For a 6 month period the best option is to buy a second hand bike (+insurance + carte grise).
But you'll have to sell it yourself before departure. I don't know of a guaranteed buy-back contract, unless you buy a new one, and this will not be your case.